The invention concerns a device for mounting a component of a motor vehicle, such as an exhaust pipe assembly, to a chassis of the motor vehicle.
The elastic suspension of the exhaust gas assembly of motor vehicles has, in addition to support of the actual weight of the assembly, the principal goal of compensating for motion of the exhaust gas assembly relative to the chassis caused by load changing motion of the drive chain as well as to accept forces from the exhaust assembly due to acceleration and braking. In addition, vibrations transferred from the drive chain and the motor and the resulting possible resonances in the exhaust configuration should be isolated from the chassis.
Towards this end, suspension mechanisms made from a rubber elastic material are generally utilized as known in the art through DE-PS 43 12 504, DE-PS 44 17 651 and EP-A-0 529 250.
The suspension mechanism known in the art through DE-PS 43 12 504 has, e.g. an attachment component, a U-shaped supporting component as well as a bearing component connected to the exhaust assembly which is inwardly disposed and to which two upper and lower braces comprising rubber elastic material are mounted. Same are located at the oppositely positioned end sections on the support member or on the attachment member. In the holding device known in the art from DE-PS 44 17 651, a V-shaped suspension element is provided made from rubber elastic material which is connected to the support structure of the motor vehicle and to the exhaust gas assembly via three connecting openings. The suspension known in the art from EP-A-0 529 250 is a rhombus-shaped loop capable of accepting tensile forces and having braces shaped thereon made from an elastic material as well as upper and lower holding openings for accepting holding brackets on the motor vehicle and on the exhaust gas assembly.
All three of these suspensions have the common feature that they attempt, by means of complicated configuration of the rubber suspension, to achieve different properties with respect to stiffness, and mobility of the suspension device in each of the various differing directions. In particular, use of rubber material is thereby disadvantageous, since this material has thermal limits. The configuration of the elastic suspension on the exhaust assembly, which becomes quite hot during operation, must therefore be taken into consideration. The softness which is required for ease of use, i.e. low stiffness for the suspension device and needed to achieve good vibration isolation has, in addition, the consequence that undesirable large resilient paths occur in the elastic elements in response to larger force loads caused by initial acceleration or by driving and braking processes unless corrective measures are taken to limit the path. Such measures are often quite complicated.
It is therefore the underlying purpose of the invention to create a device for mounting of the above mentioned kind which is distinguished by high thermal shape stability as well as different characteristics with respect to stiffness and mobility in differing directions.